HiWishing for 3D Mars images, part I

Editor's note: this is the first of a three-part series by HiRISE principal investigator Alfred McEwen.

There are around 20,000 images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera are available on the University of Arizona’s HiRISE website. Hundreds of those were acquired as a result of public suggestions made using HiWish.

Many of these are actually stereo pairs, for which MRO pointed at the spot twice on different orbits and at different angles for HiRISE to image. Red-blue/green stereo anaglyphs for each of these are linked below, so get out your red-blue or red-cyan glasses.

Listed below are some of my favorite recently-acquired stereo anaglyphs, from 2011 and 2012. To really appreciate the full detail in these images you need to download the HiView tool. It takes a bit of time and effort to get this working (hint: follow the directions), but then you can quickly browse, zoom, pan, and stretch these enormous images to really appreciate their content. The HiWish user names are usually the full names of the individuals that requested the image, some of whom are planetary scientists.

NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

Eolian change detection in Trouvelot Crater

This image shows relatively bright bedrock eroded by the wind, with dark sand dunes on the south end. HiWish user: Simone Silvestro. Original HiRISE anaglyph

NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

Terrain in Promethei Terra

This oddly-shaped depression on a slope may have formed by sublimation of a layer of clean ice. HiWish user: Stephan Wessel. Original HiRISE anaglyph

NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

Possible inverted topography with clay minerals

The dark mesas were the floors of craters prior to erosion of intercrater materials. HiWish user: William Farrand. Original HiRISE anaglyph

NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

Possible rafted lava crust in Tartarus Colles

The cones on the lava look cool in 3D, especially at full resolution (use HiView). HiWish user: Glenn MacPherson. Original HiRISE anaglyph

NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

Iazu crater

This is the crater just south of Endeavour crater where the Opportunity rover currently resides. HiWish user: Erik Sieckman. Original HiRISE anaglyph